Pauly Shore — MTV VJs Then and Now

Then: The son of famed Comedy Store owners Sammy and Mitzi Shore, Pauly got into stand-up at 17, and began developing his persona as the dopey but sweet surfer boy ''The Weasel.'' His schtick landed him on MTV in 1989, and he went on to score his own show, 'Totally Pauly,' in 1991.

Now: Shore left MTV behind in 1994, after he'd fronted two comedy features, 'Son in Law,' and 'Encino Man.' He went on to star in more wacky movies, including 'In the Army Now,' 'Jury Duty' and 'Bio-Dome.' But these proved less popular and offered diminishing returns. In 2003, Shore poked fun at his flailing career with the semi-autobiographical mockumentary 'Pauly Shore is Dead,' in which he fakes his own death to renew the public's interest in him. Though he continues to score work in comedies (in film, television and on the Web), he's not managed to reclaim the level of fame he had in the early '90s. But hey, he's on Twitter.